DocAndersen
The Cal #3 folder, the last pictures from California. Some pictures of the mountains some pictures of the beach. There is something fun about being able to wander to the mountains, and then to the Ocean and not have to drive 20 hours. From the Hills of Southern Indiana to the mountains of either the East or West Coast of the US is an 11-hour drive East and a 24 or more hour drive West. In Maryland, we are less than 30 minutes from the mountain and less than an hour from the Ocean. Well the Chesapeake Bay, but that is connected to the Atlantic Ocean. That is the magic of living near mountains and ocean. You can choose to be at either when you wish quickly.
My father and his sisters grew up near water in Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin. I suspect they, like most people that grow up near water, loved being on the water. The pictures of the Ocean are of being around or in a sailboat. The peace in the mountain pictures is where the wander takes me today. There is something about climbing to the top of a hill or a mountain and looking down upon the valley. If you climb high enough you rise into the cloud layer. Looking down upon the valley you see the clouds with you, and as you climb higher, below you. Or you simply climb into the crisp air. There is less oxygen the higher you go; the air is cooler, crisper as you climb.
But you stop for a moment; when you look out upon the world beneath you, there is a moment. As if the connection you have with the world extends far beyond you of you. Far beyond the hiking stick in your hand. Far beyond what the camera can see and share. You are one for that moment with so much more than is there when you are at the base of the mountain looking up. In that climb from below sea level, or near sea level to 2,000, 3,000 feet or more you are separated not only from who you are, but you are at that moment. You are the very crisp air you breathe. You are the sound of distant water as it plunges from the melting snow to rush to the river below.
In that quiet, you can find yourself.
Hmm, Nice view. Doc!
Thanks. It was a fun trip for my dad.
Lovely view great pastime.
It really is, amazing that the pictures have lasted this long